Daddy's girl

You know in life, there are always those things that just make you smile. No matter what kind of mood you're in, no matter what's going on around you, you can't help but smile. Here's just a few of my favorite things.

Hiny hiders - In the bathroom stalls in the beloved Mars McLean Science building (and I can only assume across the rest of Baylor) the locks on the doors are made by "Hiny Hiders". How ridiculous and wonderfully appropriate. It makes me smile everytime. It's so unexpected to be humored in such a confined and otherwise bland space.

Chaselyn - In general, Chaselyn is a very mild tempered little baby. She's generally very agreeable and only fusses if she's hungry, sleepy, or has a tummy ache. She makes me smile 97% of the time (The 3% is allotted to the 15 minute periods in the early a.m. when she needs food, and the occassional fits in refusal to go to sleep even though she's real tired. She's not quite as incredibly adorable during these times). I could go on and on for this one. And I will, but I've got to be more organized first.

Corny jokes - What did the fish say when he swam into a wall? Dam

Imagine you are on a desert island surrounded by vicious angry sharks, what do you do to get back to the mainland? Stop imagining.

Both of these are compliments of some good Laffy Taffys. But I must clarify, not all corny jokes are good, I'm pretty selective.

Daddy's girls - I lived it, and loved it. (Who am I kidding, I'm still living it.) And now I'm watching it from a totally different perspective.

My Daddy will always have that special place that no one else could ever fill. The older I get, the more I realize how important my dad is. When I was younger, in my mind he was the one who always bought me special treats and would give in pretty easily. But now, I realize how much he really took care of me. In general, I thought it was mom that took care of us. She was the cook, the cleaning lady, the taxi driver, the homework helper, the personal shopper, the personal assistant, the doctor, and took care of most of the everyday stuff, and she did a fantastic job. But Daddy, it was more special to spend time with him. He was (is) a hard-worker. He always worked hard to afford his family with the comfort and stability of home. Sure mom ran the operation, but I didn't realize until I got older that dad didn't just go to work to make money. He went to work to take care of us. And he still does whatever he can to help. He used 20+ cans of red spray paint and countless hours so that I could have the nursery furniture that I wanted. And it's beautiful! He always tries to sneak in some gas money for the trip home. In a word, he's amazing!

And now, watching Stanton interact with Chaselyn is the most precious thing ever! He melts at her little smiles and giggles. He's crippled by her pain. And he's doing the same thing my dad did. He's working so hard to provide for his family. To bring home the bacon, so hopefully someday I can stay at home to fry it in the pan. He has such vision for our family and works with such purpose now. He's always been a hard worker, but I don't think there's anything he wouldn't do for that sweet girl. And believe me, I know that both of us are in for quite a trip. I grew up being Daddy's little girl. And I knew how to work the system. Chaselyn will learn quickly the stuff that she should go ask Daddy for and the stuff she should ask mom.

I think the song that my dad and I danced to at our wedding sums it up

Scared me to death when you took your first steps
Well Id fall every time you fell down
Your first day to school I cried like a fool
And I followed your school bus to town
Well I didnt cry when Old Yeller died
At least not in front of my friends
But when tough little boys grow up to be dads
they turn in to big babies again